Re: Wheel painting question.

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2012/7/13 15:06:24

In an overall sense the answer varies with the era of vehicle and you've really got to read the paint and trim color charts to known; there is no simple answer although in the vast majority of cases, the answer is NO. In the years when steel "disteel" wheels were used it wasn't all that uncommon to have a color combination with this type wheel colored other than body color, but that pretty much ended when the steel disc wheels were discontinued (about 1934). With the advent of pressed steel drop center wheels about 1935 for the 120 and 1937 for the seniors, wheels were almost always body color but there are a few limited exceptions. For example if you review the 1941 paint data you'll find that the body color Saratoga Beige was available with Cimmaron Red wheels (a particularly pretty combination!) - but this is one of the few and rare exceptions where such color deviations are actually noted in the paint and color information.

Could you order a car and have the dealer repaint the wheels "red", almost certainly.

Could you order a high value Packard during the so-called pre-war Classic era and have the wheels factory-painted red (or another color), yes.

Could you order a postwar Packard with factory-painted red wheels on a non-red car, unlikely but possible. It could very much depend on how much "clout" the ordering dealer had with the factory.